Barney Stinson theory

[foreverinlovebr]

I wanted to share this it's quite interesting to think about especially with how this site likes to annalize over everything in this series. It points out many reasons why we love Barney most and why Ted isn't such a good guy afterall.

Comments

[deeplyshalllow]

It's an interesting theory, but I don't think it holds water massively well, as evidenced by the massive uproar when the failnale aired the kids should not have thought Ted and Robin would have fit anyway. If Ted wanted to show Barney as competition for Robin even though he doesn't deserve her he'd have cut out a hell of a lot of the romantic speeches and deeds (many of which didn't really need to be included) and played Barney as much less loving to Robin (he could have even shown him cheat on her).

I do think some of his stuff might have been exaggerated (I'm playing with an idea atm that Barney's plays are so ridiculous in himym because no one can really remember them - the playbook got blown up 18 years ago, so half of the ones Ted describes are just really stupid sounding ones that the gang have made up to make fun of Barney when retelling the story to Tracy and others (while Barney sulks and insists that they were not like that, they were genius and always got him laid thank you very much)), but this idea that the failnale works on any level that doesn't involve sociopathic children and mind control zombies taking hold of all the other characters (including Future Ted during the course of his narration) is flawed by the fact that the failnale simple contradicts too much.

[foreverinlovebr]

The plays were over the top, think about it this way. The plays were just ploys to pick up women a decoy if you will for Barney not knowing what he wants out of life and thinks it's better to run these plays thinking they will work. But, I do think the plays and playbook are symbols of how Barney gets women and the big one was getting Robin back. I never thought Barney, considering his backstory and what he's been through in his life is the bad guy here, he's never been that for Robin either we know she liked/loved Barney for who he was and they very quickly clicked on everything so he isn't the bad guy in this.

I agree though, the failnale does contradict the story because the ending erased everything that had happened plus that ending was written years before B/R were even a couple.

Barney has done more sweet and romantic things for Robin without thinking or needing anything out of it. I do think that Ted's making Barney the bad guy by telling the kids the worst things possible about their uncle Barney. I thought about this for a while but what if the theory of Barney being the hero, romantic hero as well makes him a good guy but Ted likes to exaggerate on a lot of the story to make himself look better by in hindsight he really isn't.

I do love that the article, for once says that Robin really is the love of Barney's life at least someone finally knows what up. This is correct on many levels and I love that they can say that and mean it as a review. That failnale however DID not go with the story telling and I don't believe that's what happened. B/R found their happiness with each other that's the real story.

[unzadi]

The failnale doesn't work on any level and goes against so much of the near-decade of storytelling that came before it that one almost has to throw it out to properly analyze or even theorize the series. I do like that the article calls Robin the love of Barney's life, and the kids would know both Barney and Robin and they'd pick up on the lingering feelings between them. Sociopathic teenagers would really be the only ones on the "yeah, go bang Aunt Robin" bandwagon, because who cares about Uncle Barney being miserable, anyway? He and Ellie can go...um, somewhere and do, um...something. Who cares? They don't matter anymore, because it's all about Dad and Aunt Robin. Um, no.

I do like the idea that Ted has exaggerated some of Barney's traits and/or escapades, as we've seen Ted as an unreliable narrator in the past. It wouldn't have been out of step with the true spirit of the show for Future Ted to confess, in the finale, that he maybe embellished a few things about Uncle Barney, and the truth was more like (more realistic version without exaggeration) which would fit better with the Uncle Barney they'd grown up knowing, unless he had drifted so far away from the group/family that they didn't know him that well and would buy whatever their dad told them as truth.